Fired Pizza Hut Manager Gets Job Back After Thanksgiving Dispute

Tony Rohr, 28, worked his way from the kitchen all the way up to managing his own store in Elkhart, Ind., but refused to open on Thanksgiving despite a mandatory corporate directive.

Rohr maintained that he was motivated by the best interests of his employees. “Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two days that they’re closed in the whole year. And they’re the only two days that those people are guaranteed to have off to spend with their families.”

As is often the case with employment disputes, there is some difference of opinion as to whether Rohr quit or was fired. He apparently refused to submit a resignation and instead wrote a letter of explanation that stated in part, “I am not quitting, I do not resign however I accept that the refusal to comply with this greedy, immoral request means the end of my tenure with this company.”

Presumably as a result of the adverse national publicity (the roar from Rohr?), Pizza Hut had a change of heart, and issued the following statement:

“As follow up to the situation in Elkhart, IN, we feel strongly that the situation involving our independent franchisee and the local store manager could and should have been avoided. We fully respect an employee’s right to not work on a holiday, which is why the vast majority of Pizza Huts in America are closed on Thanksgiving. As a result, we strongly recommended that the local franchisee reinstate the store manager and they have agreed. We look forward to them welcoming Tony back to the team.”

However, Tony Rohr is not sure that he is going to accept the Pizza Hut reinstatement offer after declining to open up his shop on Thanksgiving Day. “That’s something I can’t decide right away. I’ll start looking into stuff tomorrow,” he told CNN today.